1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to payment system devices, and to hardware function or feature upgrades on payment system devices. The invention further relates to a method for controlling feature upgrades on single or multiple units' hardware features onsite in a distributed network, without requiring a user to have knowledge of the specific serial numbers when placing upgrade feature orders. The invention further relates to document processing, and to compact, desktop document processors for capturing data and images from checks and other financial and payment-related documents. The invention further relates to document processors designed for processing documents at a teller window.
2. Background Art
Historically, banks processed large volumes of paper checks in centralized locations, either a central bank or a clearing house. Document processing machines in such locations were large, processing up to 2000 documents per minute. These machines were supported by dedicated, trained operators.
However, centralized processing costs banks typically three days in clearing a document. The “Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act” or the “Check 21 Act” was enacted by Congress to facilitate check truncation by authorizing substitute checks, to foster innovation in the check collection system without mandating receipt of checks in electronic form, and to improve the overall efficiency of the Nation's payments system. The Check 21 legislation has driven the demand for decentralized check imagers and sorters in financial institutions. Check 21 gives equal legal validity to electronic data obtained from documents, and has made it possible for banks to distribute document processing to speed the clearing process. Check 21 has made it advantageous for banks to convert paper checks to electronic data as early as possible.
In the recent past, banks have partially converted paper check information to electronic data. In some cases this partial information was used internally. In other cases two banks would agree on standards for electronic data transfer. In either case, the paper check was still the only legal document for the transaction. Check 21 has standardized these agreements across the banking industry, and given the electronic data legal merit, if the electronic data meet the requirements set forth in Check 21.
Accordingly, the use of decentralized payment system devices is increasing. Because it is advantageous for banks to convert paper checks to Check 21 valid electronic data as early as possible, compact, desktop document processors have been developed. Some of these payment system devices are designed for use on a counter top, or at a teller window. With the growing use of decentralized payment system devices in the field, the management of these payment system devices may become complicated.
For example, an existing payment system device may be capable of receiving a hardware function or feature upgrade, with the upgrade being enabled by providing the payment system device with an appropriate authorization. There is a need to be able to upgrade the payment system device in the field. A feature upgrade could include, for example, various speed and document hopper related options, and enabling options, such as, color imaging, color printing, and optical character recognition (OCR), or any other option that the device is capable of supporting.
In an existing approach to authorizing a hardware function or feature upgrade, the customer or user of the payment system provides the device serial number together with order information, for example, by email, to the authorization service. The existing approach only allows modifying a single device's features at a time. In response, an authorization file is created that contains entitlement information for the particular payment system device having the provided serial number. A computer program on a personal computer (PC) that is locally connected to the payment system device is used to update or upgrade the device in accordance with the provided authorization file.
As the number of payment system devices for a customer increases, this existing, tedious upgrade process can become difficult to manage. In particular, the requirement for the customer or user to know or provide a unit's serial number at the time of ordering the upgrade makes it difficult to manage devices, particularly when the customer has many payment system devices that are decentralized, and possibly located at various physical locations.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an improved method for controlling feature upgrades on single or multiple units' hardware features onsite in a distributed network, without requiring a user to have knowledge of the specific serial numbers when placing upgrade feature orders, and without requiring a user to physically move a device to upgrade its features.